What's Blooming

Honestly, the whole yard is still in bloom. The daisies are just loving life and sharing their exuberance with any and all who pass.

But there's only one new plant that is blooming...the white lavender.

This is just a little thing, only about fourteen inches high. I think it is beautiful, but the smell of lavender makes me a little ill. So, I think I'm going to say farewell to it this year and move it to my neighbor's yard. She has a nice spot that isn't too close to where anyone walks...so the only ones that will have to smell it are people who want to.

Most people like the smell of lavender, so yes, I know I'm weird. I just like the look of the plant, and thought I could get over the smell. Or plant just a small amount. It is a very aromatic plant, though.

Very.

Anyway, I hope you have a lovely week. I'm spending a few days with my sisters, which is just lovely. It's also nice to have a break from the kids. They have been a little overwhelming this summer. Here's to an underwhelming few days to balance everything out.

Malena and Braces

It's Malena's turn to get braces.

I didn't post a picture when Bonnie got her braces back in January, because Bonnie wouldn't let me take a picture. Malena, however, is a different story. She walks around in an almost permanent smile. Probably because the braces are more comfortable that way.

As usual, Bonnie and Malena have to be polar opposites in everything. Bonnie didn't really complain that her mouth hurt. Malena sat on the couch and moaned. I gave her Tylenol, and she still just sat and moaned. I eventually told her that unless she had new information to impart, I didn't need to hear that her mouth hurt anymore.

Since Tylenol wasn't working, once it wore off I gave her Excedrin. Big mistake. Instead of moaning that her mouth hurt, she was freaking out that she was shaking from the caffeine. This mama was definitely not scoring.

Here's what was amazing, though: her mouth didn't hurt when she was swimming. Seems a little (or a big) distraction was the best way to go.

And I have at least another full year with both the girls in braces...good thing I have a pass to the pool!

What's Blooming

It seems that everything is still in bloom...and that there aren't very many new flowers right now. However, there are two:

Green-Eyed Susans - this strain is called "Irish Eyes Are Smiling." They are bright green when they bloom, and they turn a dirty brown later in the season.

Obedient Plant - this is taking awhile to open, but I'm glad it's started. The flowers are very dainty next to the wildflowers growing around it. I may have to relocate it somewhere that it can be appreciated better.

Oh, and just for fun, here's a picture of a bouquet I pulled from my own garden (!):

So there you have it! Lots of weeding in my future, but I'm hoping to keep the yard looking decent this year. Have a great week!

What's Blooming

Since we had a birthday this week, the blooming post is a little (a lot) late. The flowers are still blooming up a storm, so here we go!

The Yarrow has started blooming. I split this into two pieces and so it may be blooming a little late. It is also much smaller this year because of the splitting. That's okay, though - as long as it eventually fills in its space.

The first Echinacea of the season started out blooming yellow, then went to a pale pink. I think it will eventually be purple. Don't think I've ever seen a Coneflower do the color change thing before - it was kind of fun to watch.

The Yellow Loosestrife, although not very impressive, has small yellow blooms all over. As it goes through the season, the long tendrils will stretch out and weave through the other flowers.

Another yellow plant, these Desert Candles are another fun flower to watch. It starts blooming from the bottom up, and as it progresses, the bottom flowers become wilted, or "burned".

Then there are these two. I know there's a name for them - I even knew the name of the pink one last year. I'll have to do some research and see if I can find them.

But my favorite of this week's flowers are the Asiatic Lilies. The red ones were a gift from a neighbor taking out her yard, and the others were picked out by Bonnie when we first moved in. Good pick, Bon.

I guess I should wish you a good weekend instead of a good week, since I've posted this so late this week - so have a great weekend!

Madeline (Bonnie) is 14!

My little girl isn't so little anymore. She's a solid teenager.

Note: That reference doesn't have anything to do with her body type - more her attitude.

We're doing braces and middle school (ours goes through 9th grade, so she'll be there 2 more years). We're doing "late nights" and begging for sleep-overs (which is a definite no-no in our house). We're walking to the neighborhood icy hut to get slushies with friends and rolling our eyes every which way whenever someone in authority speaks.

Ah, love the teenage years. Actually, I like her more and more every year.

She has told everyone that this is her "golden year" - she is turning 14 on the 14th in the year 2014. So she invited 14 friends to her party (sadly, only 7 could come - but family made up the numbers). She wrote the caption on her birthday cake:

I think she understands that a birthday party is a gift you give to your friends. She did all the planning and executing of her birthday party. I do not do birthday parties well - but Bonnie does.

Everyone had a great time. I tried to keep the other kids away from the party, even going so far as to walk them to get slushies. Bringing them back just in time for ice cream. A banner day for sweets - they loved it.

Happy 14th, baby girl!

Keeping the Heat Outside

One of the conundrums of summer is all the fresh produce that you want to bake, as well as the house that you want to keep cool.

Consider zucchini bread. Zucchini plants produce like crazy, making the need for making something from them very high. One can only eat so much grilled and sauteed zucchini, after all. So here's our solution: an oven in the garage.

Doug bought it from his brother for $50. Not a bad deal, especially since it still works - without Doug even tinkering with it! It doesn't quite fit in its spot...and we do keep the breaker off when we're not using it to discourage kids from turning it on accidentally. But! It does bake pizza and zucchini bread (probably, haven't actually tried it)...without heating the house. Yay.

Octagon = Stop

Our house has this lovely (well, not-so-lovely, if you ask me) octagonal window. When we first moved in, I covered it with leaf window wallpaper.

This helped our dining room become less of a fishbowl. It also helped filter the light and heat that was coming through that window. It's only single-paned, so there's not a whole lot of help against the western sun in the afternoons.

Doug asked me in spring to please put curtains over the window - to hide the shape, to stop the heat and light, and generally make the room look more cozy. So I bought the material and it sat. Of course!

For Easter, my sister helped me cut out the panels. See, Doug? I'm working on your project! And then it sat. Again.

Eventually, I got the curtain hardware. Doug even offered to put it up, so I let him. Aren't I nice?

He drew marks on the wall, and after my approval, he put the whole thing up.

We looked at the rod in dismay - the rod is level. However, the ceiling is not. This seems to be on par with most of the workmanship in the house. I told Doug to just leave it - no amount of fiddling is going to make that ceiling look right. Eventually (hopefully), we'll add molding that will disguise the ceiling flaws...but it ain't going to be soon.

With the curtain rod up, I went ahead and sewed those curtain panels. I tried my sister's method of sewing the lining to the panel right sides together, and then turning it right-side-out. It worked okay.  I think I like just turning back the sides better, especially since I was dealing with thick material and different widths between the lining and the panel.

But all's well that ends well - and there's no more octagon!

What's Blooming & A Significant Achievement

Flowers always start the week around here...so let's see what's blooming this week!

This yellow one is from the wildflower mix. I still can't figure out what it is, so we'll just call it "that pretty yellow wildflower":

This one I know - it's a Black-Eyed Susan.

And my favorite flower - the Shasta Daisy:

I'll have to show you the entire row of daisies once they're all in bloom. I also planted some daylilies. There are three different colors: white, light purple and this one:

I love the yellow striping. I've tried a few times to grow daylilies, and killed them all. So here's hoping these live.

A random marigold also popped its head up this week:

These are a nuisance, if you ask me. Maybe I'll transplant it to Doug's garden so it can repel bugs. But since the carnation-like flower isn't something I like very much, I think it'll have to get out of my flower beds. I know, I'm not very nice.

Okay, now for the significant achievement. For the past two weeks (or three or maybe more), I've been working on the long bed that adjoins our major street. We planted Eastern Redbuds there last fall, so it looked a little like this:

A minor flood had wiped out much of the mulch - which wasn't a color we liked anyway - so we didn't bother to put it back. The trees were just sticks, but that's how they come. Basically, it was pretty bare. Now it looks like this:

The trees are a little older, so they look a little healthier than just "sticks". I also added good garden soil to the bed and Doug rototilled it. The original dirt was as hard as cement, so it was rough going. Hopefully the plants will start to loosen it up at some point. Then I added plants: Tradescantia, Black-Eyed Susans, strawberries, and some pretty groundcover with white flowers. No, I didn't find out its name.

The strawberries and the white-flowered groundcover came from a neighbor's house. They had a fire last December and are having to tear the entire structure down after months of planning a rebuild. So we salvaged some of the plants and they gave away many more as well. I'm hoping they grow really well so that I can dig some of them up once the neighbors move back in and want some more.

In the meantime, though, that parkway (as we've taken to calling it) is starting to look a little more civilized. And (whew!), all I have to do now is water and weed. 

Hope you have a great week!

Recital Time

Yes, it's that time of the year when the kids show off their stuff. Since I only have two kids playing the piano right now - and only one with a teacher that does recitals - Malena got to be the only one from our family playing this past weekend.

Her teacher does a marvelous job of teaching them, keeping them interested (a point system which eventually leads to a large candy bar or equivalent), and letting them strut their stuff at two recitals a year. I actually enjoy going to hear all the kids play - it is such a joy to hear real piano music!

Anyway, this recital was funny...all the kids had that "summer fever" look. You know, that look that kids get the last week or two of school? The look that says, "don't make me do anything other than show up." Yup, that one. None of the kids played as perfectly as I know they can, Malena included.

That said, they still did an amazing job. It is not easy to sit in front of an audience and produce some beautiful music. Even coherent music is a job. But here she is, playing her two pieces for you:

Funny story: yes, it was me this time who didn't remember to mute my phone. Bad, bad mommy. You can see Malena messed up a little on the beginning of the second piece...that was my fault. Let's say it again: bad, bad mommy.

What's Blooming

Here we are, officially in June.

Yikes! Where did the year go? We only have (officially) three weeks left of spring and my transplanting is not done. I have done so much more than past years, though, so I don't feel too badly. After all, we're not moving anytime soon (strange), so I do have more time on this yard.

Here are the blooms for this week - the garden is starting to show off a little, don't you think?

Candytuft:

Primroses: These I transplanted because they were taking over a garden bed. I placed them in another bed where they can truly take over and enjoy the space. I may add spring bulbs, but otherwise, they'll have free reign.

Spirea:

 Iberian Iris, in both purple/yellow and just plain yellow: These are very short-lived, although they are stunning for the 6-7 days they're around.

Lily of the Valley:

Blue Salvia:

Rose Pink: These were from the wildflower mix I sprinkled indiscriminately around my garden beds last year. I'm glad to see them again.

And finally, Baby's Breath: This is the white flower in the lower left of the picture. I've heard from many sources that the perennial version of this plant isn't anything exciting - but I find myself really liking it. So much so that I may actually plant more of it. On purpose (this was another specimen of the wildflower experiment).

And there you have it! I'm off to do more weeding, soil modification...feel free to join me any time!